My .net domain name dilemma

[vij]

Hi guys

I got a wonderful short brandable domain name aptly suited to my forum/niche - but it is a .net domain

My question is if it ticks all the right boxes(brandable, related to niche, short and sweet) would you go with the .net or would you pick a not so cool sounding different .com domain ?


Edit: Revealed the domain name I am talking about in post #12

 

[Lucas]

http://neowin.net is just fine.

 

[vij]

http://neowin.net is just fine.

Pretty good!

 

[Carlos]

It's brandable, alright. The problem with .net is that some domains don't fit the extention very well - would you buy codnetwork.net? I wouldn't. Why put two "network" in a domain name? Really.

 

[petertdavis]

I woud not do it. I know from first hand experience that if you build a site on anything other than the .com name, you bleed traffic to the .com. The only exceptions to that rule I'd ever recommend would be a non-profit to use a .org. Government sites use .gov, universities use .edu. I might use a .net domain if it was a network hub site that I wasn't trying to build an audience for it.

 

[Carlos]

I woud not do it. I know from first hand experience that if you build a site on anything other than the .com name, you bleed traffic to the .com. The only exceptions to that rule I'd ever recommend would be a non-profit to use a .org. Government sites use .gov, universities use .edu. I might use a .net domain if it was a network hub site that I wasn't trying to build an audience for it.

I agree to some extent, but if your site has better SEO than the .com, whatever you just said went out of the window.

 

[vij]

I woud not do it. I know from first hand experience that if you build a site on anything other than the .com name, you bleed traffic to the .com. The only exceptions to that rule I'd ever recommend would be a non-profit to use a .org. Government sites use .gov, universities use .edu. I might use a .net domain if it was a network hub site that I wasn't trying to build an audience for it.

Thank you for the answer Peter.
Its for a forum - its a short neat one word name that fits the niche and the .net extension fits beautifully for it. Its a forum - Hopefully any search engine audience will be fine wth .net and the active members would come to the .net site, especially considering the .com is kind-of slightly unrelated site

Ofcourse - I do have concerns about going for a .net domain name - the thought of going for a .net woudnt have crossed my mind if the .net domain name wasnt this good and apt. I cant find anyth with .com that is anywhere near as good.. Infact I couldn't find anything half decent

 

[Lucas]

Then go ahead and use it, really, if you can provide a usable site with valuable content, it'll be always better than any cool .com domain. It's you and the content that matters, not the name.

 

[vij]

Then go ahead and use it, really, if you can provide a usable site with valuable content, it'll be always better than any cool .com domain. It's you and the content that matters, not the name.

Ya. Im thinking I will use it.
There's one more thing - the niche is not technical and is not the PC crowd if you know what I mean - so I hope the potential "lay-men" know .net is a domain extension too Ah, if they are going to post in a forum, they should know it I hope.

Damn it... Got to think.

 

[Carlos]

There's one more thing - the niche is not technical and is not the PC crowd if you know what I mean - so I hope the potential "lay-men" know .net is a domain extension too Ah, if they are going to post in a forum, they should know it I hope.

That's going to be a big problem too. So, you'll have to provide them with something great, like "I'll come back for more!" great.

Consider buying a dot com to facilitate an easier direction to your .net site. What I mean is, create a network of sorts. I'm doing it with www.codnet.com > www.codforums.com

 

[vij]

That's going to be a big problem too. So, you'll have to provide them with something great, like "I'll come back for more!" great.

Consider buying a dot com to facilitate an easier direction to your .net site. What I mean is, create a network of sorts. I'm doing it with www.codnet.com > www.codforums.com

Glad you mention it. You have a good thing going.

Initial members are not going to be a problem... I am doing the network on a large scale - more like 10 disposable(I am a blackhat) mini-sites every couple of months ranking for problem solving keywords and directing thousands of visitors to forum everyday.
Just that I fear "what if" the 'grandma' and 'uncle joe' type crowd cant get their head around .net extension and miss the second visit even though they want to visit. Maybe I am paranoid...

 

[vij]

The domain name im talking about is famli.net for a family forum (pregnancy/baby care/raising children/senior care/fertility problems etc)

 

[HWS]

Since the web site at famli.com has nothing to do with families you won't loose any traffic to them. Also .net makes sense in your case. Go with it!

 

[BirdOPrey5]

famli.net? Can you get "famil.net" too? Also "famili.net." ?

When I first saw it, it registered as "family" without the y.

Then I noticed it's not. It's "family" with an i instead of a y.

But again it's not.

Personal opinion here- it's spelling is too close to a real word.

 

[vij]

famli.net? Can you get "famil.net" too? Also "famili.net." ?

When I first saw it, it registered as "family" without the y.

Then I noticed it's not. It's "family" with an i instead of a y.

But again it's not.

Personal opinion here- it's spelling is too close to a real word.

Ya, I know what you mean.
famili/famil etc are all taken - I got famli.net by chance - it dropped recently... btw ridiculously famli.org is on sale for 5.5k - not that it means anything...

Shucks - I am confused

 

[CTXMedia]

With that sort of domain name I don't think it will matter - it's not a real word and it's not going to naturally occur to someone to type that in on a "guess" - so your traffic is going to come from referrals and (mainly) search engines; in that case, your content is what will generally dictate how people find you, not your domain name.

I've agonised over domain names myself in the past, but unless you're doing any real-word marketing or advertising - where the "name" is your brand (and website address) and people will have to remember it in order to visit - then I think you'll be okay with whatever domain you chose providing you get lots of content in there.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[vij]

I have been brainstorming about the domain name famli.net and I have some thoughts about it -

1. famli.net seems like slightly 'brandable' and will hence hopefully give the forum an identity and the forum members a sense of belonging to a club - instead of making them feel like coming to a nursery that sounds like familyforum.com or something.

2. But imagine this. A user comes in for the first time and then goes back.... He wants to come in 2nd time and he thinks the forum name is spelt family.net or famili.net(both not the forum name) and then realizes no - and he tries again and types in famli.com(mine is famli.net) and then again finds out its not it - and he wonders for a while more and then thinks "screw it!" Actually this has happened to me when I wanted to visit forums(where I am now active) with easy forum names as well, but I did check on it by going to my email...but will the average user do it.

3. Another line of thought is I might miss the not-so interested users but will have a core section of real active members whilst I will anyway not lose the SEO traffic whatever the name. So not bad (or not)

Mind you, I am thinking so much about this because I am certain this will be a busy forum in 1 year and the name is important - I know it!


Yes, you got it right - I am lingering on it because I love the name - famli.net - I think it is cute and apt - but is it functional?

 

[vij]

Im beginning to think famli.net is a cute name but perhaps bad functional name for a family forum

 

[CTXMedia]

Im beginning to think famli.net is a cute name but perhaps bad functional name for a family forum

I think you're over-thinking it - just register family-forums.net or raising-a-family.com and make a start!!

 

[vij]

I think you're over-thinking it - just register family-forums.net or raising-a-family.com and make a start!!

Ya I know... You are right but in my defense maybe its because I am going to invest considerable time and money on it
I dont like hyphens mate